Google cofounder Larry Page took the stage at CES to officially unveil the …

Google cofounder Larry Page rode onto the stage at the Google keynote this afternoon at CES on the bumper of Stanley, the winning entrant in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. After dismounting, he shared his vision of a future defined by open standards and interconnectivity. He then showed off a couple of prototype products and officially unveiled the Google Pack and the beta (natch) of Google Video.

Driving Google Earth

Page showed off a prototype developed with automaker VW that basically brings Google Earth into your car. Using a dashboard display, you can get driving directions, perform a destination search, or local search using an onscreen keyboard. It's still in the prototype phase, with no indication given of when it would come to market.

Google also announced a version of Google Local for Mobile for the BlackBerry platform, which is available today, as part of the demonstration of Google's cell-phone-friendly services.

Staying interconnected: open standards

At first glance, Google seems to be a bit of an odd fit among the companies giving keynote addresses. As the final keynote speaker of the CES, Page was preceded by Microsoft, Intel, and Sony, all of which fit easily and comfortably into the consumer electronics universe. While Google is on par with the companies in terms of influence, brand awareness, and any number of other metrics, it's not thought of a consumer electronics company. So Page made the case for why Google belongs in the CES mix.

Describing the CES as a geek convention, Page bemoaned the fact that he can't easily connect a camera with a "pocket hard drive" because of a lack of software and open standards. He encouraged manufacturers and developers to embrace open standards to allow devices to interoperate easily and to work the same, no matter where you plug them in.

Google Pack

As expected, Google has officially made Google Pack for Windows available for download. According to Page, Google Pack "makes having the right software on your computer as easy as going to the Google home page." Included in Google Pack are:

Mozilla Firefox

Ad-Aware SE Personal

Norton AntiVirus 2005 Special Edition

Adobe Reader 7

Google Earth

Picasa

Google Desktop

Google Toolbar

Google Talk

Optional software such as Trillian, GalleryPlayer HD Images, and RealPlayer is also available for inclusion in the Pack.

An assistant then ran a demo of the Google Pack download and installation process. It's very simple: click to download, assent to the obligatory license agreement, and then download an installer program. According to Page, the installer works in the background to avoid hogging your bandwidth. The apps included in Google Pack will supposedly be updated automatically, and Page trumpeted the fact that there's no nagware included—you won't be bugged for upgrades, and you won't have to worry about the programs in Google Pack changing your system settings without your approval.

Google Pack will likely prove to be a hit. The combination of anti-adware and anti-viral software could make it a popular choice for those who aren't inclined to stay on top of security. All that's missing is a word processor and a spreadsheet, two applications that have been the subject of rumors when it comes to Google.

Google Video Store

Robin Williams helps introduce Google Video Store

Page was joined onstage by Robin Williams to talk about Google Video. Launched about a year ago, Page described it as a "weird and innovative" service and claimed to be happy with it, but said that the company needed to monetize the service. The result: Google Video Store.

The Google Video Store will be "available soon" and will launch with over 3,000 titles online. More will be added every day, according to Page. Initially, the content will come from the likes of CBS, the NBA, Classic Media (owners of the rights to such classic cartoons as Rocky & Bullwinkle and Tennessee Tuxedo, as well as VeggieTales producers Big Idea), Charlie Rose, Porchlight Entertainment, and Sony BMG. Page said he believed the videos were 640x480, which if true, would be a big improvement over the 320x240 videos found at the iTunes Music Store.

Kenny Smith, formerly of the Houston Rockets and currently of TNT, came onstage to help pitch Google's agreement with the NBA. For US$3.95 per game, consumers will be able to purchase all NBA telecasts 24 hours after they have aired as well as some classic games.

CBS is throwing its hat in the ring with Google as well. Episodes of CSI, Survivor, The Amazing Race, and other CBS programming will be available for 24-hour rental, for US$1.99. In addition, classic series such as Star Trek (think Kirk, not Picard), the Brady Bunch, and I Love Lucy will also be available. Sony BMG plans to offer a number of music videos through the service as well.

Users will be able to see 30-second previews of the programming and will be able to purchase (or in the case of CBS, rent) the videos without interrupting the preview. Although Page didn't discuss the payments system at length, he did say that it was developed in-house and customers will pay using a credit card linked to the their Google ID.

Currently, the Google Video Store is available for Windows only. However, a Mac version of the video player for the Google Video Store is functional and "hopefully will come out soon." Page also indicated that support for other operating systems (presumably Linux) was on its way. He said that in general, Google "has not done as good a job as we should" when it comes to support OSes other than Windows, and wants to see that change.

Restrictions such as whether the program will be available for online viewing only, a defined rental period, or permanent purchase will be left up to the content creators. That's why CBS programs will be rental only and NBA games can be stored and viewed indefinitely. As to the question of DRM, again, it is at the content creator's discretion, with Page claiming that Google has no control over that end of the game. He did say that the DRM is a Google product—so throw another DRM system into digital media ring.

Content will be US-centric to start with, and some restrictions will be in place to keep content like Survivor away from countries where it has yet to air.

Towards the end of the keynote, Page opened up the floor for questions, with the assistance of Robin Williams (who made fun of most of the questioners). Predictably, the first question was about a Google PC, which failed to make an appearance as some analysts had expected. Interestingly enough, Page seemed a bit evasive when answering the question, which is in marked contrast to the rest of his time on stage. Feel free to draw your own conclusions on that.

He also said that creating a two-tiered Internet as advocated by the likes of Verizon and other ISPs "would be a horrible thing for the world." Of course, it would also be a bad thing for Google, which would find itself at a competitive disadvantage against the likes of AT&T (old SBC) and Verizon.

Throughout its relatively brief history, Google has enjoyed an excellent reputation with the computer-using public. Its services have been for the most part free, easy to use, and widely available. But now the company is treading in the murkier waters of video sales (or rentals, as the case may be). For the first time, Google is selling a product with digital rights management, which it developed in house. While Page made it clear that the restrictions that are in place on how long a video can be viewed and whether it could be downloaded or only viewed online, are at the discretion of the content creators, the truth of the matter is that Google is now complicit in the whole DRM mishmash that Sony Chairman Howard Stringer bemoaned yesterday.

For all of Page's talk about the beauty and desirability of open standards—a stance I agree with—DRM is by definition closed, and by launching the Google Video Store, Google is stepping away from open standards and interconnectivity. Will charging money for DRMed content take some of the luster off of Google's squeaky-clean reputation? That remains to be seen. Either way, Google has come a long way from being merely a search engine with a simple interface.